NEW features were on show when Wellington Museum opened for its 35th season last week.

Wellington Town Council clerk Greg Dyke said he was pleased to be invited to carry out the formal opening. He said the council appreciated the work the volunteer-run Museum Society does in keeping the museum open to visitors five-and-a-half days a week for six months of the year, from April to October. He also said it hosted organised visits by schoolchildren and put on public talks and walks which promote the history and heritage of Wellington.

Mr Dyke said he had noticed changes and improvements in the museum, even in the last year, after museum society chairman Paddy Gray gave him a quick guided tour.

Some of the museum’s volunteer stewards also attended the event and learnt how the displays in the museum had been changed during the winter closure.

New features include a range of commemorative mugs, a display of local traders’ promotional goods and a series of pictures recording the town’s pubs past and present.

The museum, in The Squirrel, Fore Street, is open Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm, and Saturday 10am-1pm. It is closed on Bank Holidays.